Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth dead on arrival

Comedian Ben Elton’s return to live television rated just 455,000 for Nine last night.

The debut of Live From Planet Earth is one of the bigger risks in Nine’s schedule for the start of the 2011 ratings season.

But the show was 22nd for the night and finished third in the timeslot, behind Seven’s Parenthood and Ten’s NCIS, and with just 1000 more viewers for Ben Elton than ABC1’s episode of QI, according to preliminary overnight ratings from OzTam.

A breakdown of Live From Planet Earth’s performance shows that after inheriting an average Top Gear Audience of nearly one million, viewers started fleeing immediately from a peak of 805,000.

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The first 15 minutes saw the average audience fall to 633,000 – and 15 minutes later that had dropped by a dramatic 33% to 421,000. An average of just 296,000 stuck around for the final 15 minutes.

The British comedian and author – who has now settled in WA – was one of the driving forces behind the rise of alternative comedy in the 1980s. Elton’s TV writing credits includes Blackadder and The Young Ones. The show is being produced by Fremantle Media.

Meanwhile, the top end of Tuesday’s most-watched list had a familiar feel, with Seven’s Packed To The Rafters averaging a metro audience of 1.943m and My Kitchen Rules rating nearly 1.6m.

I think one of the major issues with this show is that every gag (except for the guests) is written BY Ben Elton. No matter who delivers the lines, it all sounds like him. If they REALLY want an all-Aussie deal like the ads said, then they need to diversify the writing. Sure Ben can still be the head honcho, but if all he has is Minge and Bum gags, this show wont last 3 weeks.
ALSO Is Tuesday night really the night for this kind of show?

Well the promo’s were way off weren’t they? The only joke in the ad wasn’t even original let alone funny. Essentially it was “cricket is boring because after 5 days it is still a draw. Why not watch something decent … me?”

Please. We are getting hammered by the Poms in the cricket and in the ad breaks we have to listen to why cricket is shit … from a Pom!

I wanted to punch him but my old man always tole me you shouldn’t hit a bloke with glasses.

Apparently they auditioned some great calibre and experienced actors. Then they decided to run with relatively no-named actors who apparently have minimal or no professional experience. Massive risk for a live show and clearly underwhelming results.

The “Elaine Front” celebrity interview was about the only thing that was close to being amusing. Yet even for this segment they could only manage to secure Ruby Rose as a celebrity guest. No offense to Ruby, but surely they could have secured someone with a higher profile.

Double Take on Channel 7 last year opened with about 900,000 and moved to about 500,000 at the end of its season. As we know Aussies are harsh on skit comedy, but that kind of trend means Ben Elton will finish on about 12, if it gets a second run.

Surely there is someone in Australia who can crack the skit comedy show market for TV? Or do Aussies have way too many expectations for this genre of TV?

I’m afraid this was always going to be a failure. Once again Nine lanches a comedy program straight into primetime with promos and bus shelter ads promising the funniest show ever… and it’s a turkey. How many times will they keep doing it?Television comedies that are a success from episode one are a rare beast – they need to open Off-Broadway first, find their groove then find their audience. The ABC had success with shows like The Chaser because they started late on a Saturday night and were only moved into primetime once they’d figured out what they wanted to be. Seinfeld, Cheers, Top Gear… All were dismal failures during their first season(s). Television programs, especially comedies, need time to evolve – time that unfortunately the talented Mr Elton isn’t going to get. Developing a new television format is an expensive job, so why Australian commercial networks continue with this madness is beyond me.

I’m a young gay guy exposed to a lot living in Sydney and I think that this was distasteful, uneducated, fuddy duddy ramblings that he is trying to pass off as humor by including bad scripted, poorly acted scenes that include sexual connotations as shock value. He’s really just a whinging old pom that is using his accent to try and sound funny and insult others as jokes.
FAIL

I love Ben Elton, he’s my favourite author., in year 4 at school I stuck tin foil to my head and went as Vivian to a school fancy dress day… I bought a tape of his stand up in 95 and it lasted a good 2 to 3 years of plays in my car, never got tired… Should never say never…… His comedy was largely the same as then. I really wanted this show to work. Sadly it doesn’t….

I didn’t think it was that bad, and appreciated the ambitious nature of the show. Not every skit can be side splitting, but some of it was really quite funny, and I was just relieved not to be watching another American/reality/cooking/crime show? I enjoy Ben Elton’s books and believe that he is true talent who can improve as weeks go by. I’m clearly not in the majority here, but geez I feel everyone is just so quick to slam something. The idea is ambitious, and the results could be great if we give it a chance? Sadly we won’t, and lets see what gets thrown in instead…

Think what was sad is that a lot of Ben Elton’s stand up was recycled from shows he’d done almost 20 years ago. Fine there was a few jokes about NBN etc but some of the other stuff (e.g. yoghurt) I’d seen years ago. Did he think he could just get by on old stuff.

the thing is; they had a long time to prepare this first show – it should have been witty and well…funny.
i can only assume that the calibre of skits on a week to week basis will only get lower and more desperate.
its a shame coz i like Ben Elton but I would much rather zappy and witty dialogue to the cringe worthy and overacted sterotypes that tried to amuse with bum and dick jokes last night

Epic fail for sure. Switched off after about fifteen minutes and won’t watch it again. The worst part of it for me was that the skits seemed like lame copies of other successful, well-written comedy shows: Kath & Kim; Summer Heights High; even a bit of Little Britain. It was like photocopying ABC comedy, mixing in some smutty one-liners, and pitching it to the Footy Show crowd. Fail.

I came across it while channel surfing, and landed in the middle of the Nigella Sauce skit. I have to admit I WAS momentarily distracted, but oh, it was awful. And that Ruby Rose interview! I agree, one more week…

It really was very ordinary- Ben’s opening stand up was funny, but it went downhill really fast, I couldnt watch the end of it!! The chick talking about sex wasnt funny at all, the female body builder was margianlly funny, but alittle embarrasing, the school girls were not funny. A shame though, as I love live comedy, Ten does much better with the Int Comedy Festival, and Good News Week, and TBYG.

I got here late so not sure I can add to anything as I agree with most of it (I was looking forward to the Mumbrella reviews and the thought of them was far funnier than the show, even the secret agent positive remarks from the channel 9/fremantle guy).

Was willing to give it a shot….was barely hanging in there….then the school “like totally serious” sketch started and I wanted to stab myself in the ear. With something blunt. It just wasn’t funny, the canned laughter didn’t help much either.

poor Ben thought he was talking to audience that had barely heard of him and thought he could get away with some v. old gags. His style still works but the skits were shocking.
9 will have no choice. He should have picked the ABC and gone for a more cultish effort that would have grown over time.
Think he’s gonna have to rely on the books

While my opinion is based on two minutes while channel surfing, I am confident enough to say that this was truly awful, one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Poor even by channel 9 standards.
Not offensive, not edgy, not funny, not original.

Am a huge fan of Ben. But as Stephen Fry says, he’d benefit from some strong-handed self editing. There’s a fair bit of chaff in there that could easily be chopped – the singer sit com being an obvious example. But bringing Barbara the bank manager her own talk show should be applauded. A bit of polish and that could be gold. I hope we see more of Ben at his best.

When will the programmers not relax in the fact that we have our own cultural identity and are capable of producing uniquely australian humour such as The Chaser and SHH? Ben Elton, talented as he is, in NOT of Australian heritage and is not capable of uniquely Aussie humour.

Also to be fair to Ben (as with Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear) they don’t realise just what contempt Channel 9 has for its audience. It can put on a glitzy show, but the content and over-commercialization kills just about everything it does now.

The Elane Front interview was very funny and Ruby Rose was a good sport about it. I think the fact the skits were performed live just created a tinge of ‘cheese’ to the feeling, there were will written and the actors weren’t that bad.

I honestly forgot that show was even on last night and looking at the clips, it looks like I didnt even miss anything.

I always comment to friends that its sad that we don’t have our own version of Leno or Colbert and the likes but how can we? The channels never give them a shot in the first place. They get some dated comedian because it seems like the safest bet. When in reality, they should be looking for some fresh talent, its out there. Sadly, its always ABC and SBS finding the talent and taking the risks.

Ben Elton ‘Live’ – hmm someone else stole my line here about ‘dead’ springing to mind. Stilted, unfunny, old (& I am). I tried to watch, I realy did, lasted about 10 minutes – you know how it is when something is so bad amazement and bewildament sets in (that kept me there for the extra 8 minutes).

Absolute insult to Australians for a TV station to believe we would swollow such nonsence. Shouldn’t be surprised though as a script writer I know how the system works.

Viewers will walk with their fingers on this one – except ‘Mark’ – if mum and dad will let him stay up that late.

The promos for the show weren’t even funny…was there ever any doubt it the show would be humourous when they couldn’t make a 30 sec promo that was?!!All we could say is that the show lived up to the pre promotion expectations of viewers,not funny at all.

Whilst I certainly agree that the show wasn’t great, the harshness of the commentary seems a trifle unfair. At least this was something a bit different, I personally would watch this over GNW hands down. And Ben has the courage to acknowledge facts that most television personalities aren’t; for example, the pathetic behaviour of the Australian media when Oprah visited our shores.

I do think the fact that the sketches are performed live just makes the whole format a little lame. It would be better if there was a bit of pre-recorded material thrown in.

I sat through the entire program, wanting to like it, and keen to see “new Australian talent”. I offer the following analysis.:-
Motor Mouth delivery by Mr. Elton, needs a slower gearing, for the “live” audience and those at home, to find the funny bit. His experience in entertainment, should have told him that words such as ..” tit, fanny, dick, penis, breasts and bum” belong to jokes from adolescent lads or Men’s Smoking Concerts of the 60s.
Genevieve Morris’s ad libbed interview, (the only non scripted item) was the funniest. Characterisations by local actors/commedians proved fatal, with loud squeaky voices, getting through their lines as fast as possible.
In general, the TV show, was amateurish, dis-jointed, embarassing, and worthy of a Logie award as the”Lemon of the Year”.

this was absolute crap
seriously pathetic
yet again ch 9 has shown how out of touch it is with its viewers
the heavy voice over ads for all their shows and the ‘home of comedy’ / ‘home of underbelly’ (god they flogged that horse to death) is pure tripe
the proof of this is the fact that ch 9 got rid of its comments page etc
the only bit worth watching was the absolute goddess impersonating nigella lawson
otherwise totally crap !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Australian television doesn’t get much of a chance in this country does it. 2 episodes to air and the headline reads “Dead and Buried”! Wow. So much for giving a show some time to develop an audience.
Hopefully channel 9 won’t be as cynical and reactionary as the Australian Press (who wont be happy until they have killed off all Australian television and have nothing left to write about)

This show has been widely condemned by critics, reviewers and by the public via social media networks – and rightly so. I cringed. I whinged. I was left traumatised and had to strangle two small furry animals to relieve the tension. Never before have I looked forward to, and been thankful of, advertising – a break from the torture.
Perhaps the exodus of Executive talent from Nine to Seven over the last few years is a partial excuse. But surely someone with talent at Nine could hear warning bells? Did someone miss the point when the test audience attempted suicide en masse? Or did the people behind this, lacking any wisdom or comedy perspective, just put faith in Elton’s past success? And Nine are rumoured to be giving Hamish and Andy complete creative control? Charles Darwin help us. Thankfully I had the foresight to wear my tin foil hat and adult nappies whilst watching this second serving of tripe. Next!

I loved it. It demonstrated just what is wrong with our left wing, politically correct, dumbed down, attitude. Political correctness is the new cancer. It is destroying all that makes us different from the rest of the world. Resist it at all cost.

You drew my attention to Adam Hills on ABC1 tonight (no over-run, it started as advertised at ‘8:32pm’, bless Aunty) so I checked it out. Funny, light-hearted, no banging on about a personal agenda. He’s an unassuming bloke who brings the very best of humor out of his guests without shouting or making blatant nob gags. Absolutely made my evening. This calibre of Aus comedy on the teeve is so rare.

Ben Elton the highbrow comedian of the early eighties with all his intellectual political jokes and sneering at the true greats llike Benny Hill. He and his so called New-Wave got Benny the sack from Thames for being too sexist in the Modern Age. Guess what he’s a leper in Britain now and oh how about some knob gags for the Aussies. The man’s a complete charlatan.

A brave and fresh attempt, and If you just stuck with it, it got better, with more gutsy and live variety, once the feeling it was like a stand-up show was gone.
Ben Elton is one of the funniest, cleverest guys. Often hilarious. I am disappointed at the slamming he is getting before he even gets on almost.
“Girl Flat” was almost a classic.

I take it ‘THE SURPRISE HIT OF THE SUMMER’ is a pseudonym for Mrs Elton or maybe even Ben himself? It can’t really be classed as a ‘HIT’ when the ratings are dropping like a stone literally by the minute!!

Funny how Stephen Fry and Ben Elton studied and worked together as students. Now, on different continents, we have Ben Elton shouting in high pitched voice “jokes” and sketches that aren’t really working, but “QI”, bless it, tickling every funny bone with Stephen Fry as the Ultimate Quiz Master – dry, humourous, calm, FUNNY, informative, INTELLIGENT…
Oh it is a shame shame shame… and oh Good Lord, now that Bryn thing married to Jeffery Eddlestone is on – at least it has a dress on. That’s all I can say. Back to QI.

Ben Elton is a terrible terrible host, he is probably the worst stand up comedian I have ever witnessed… god he was unbearable I had change the channel lots due to his stand ups taking 5-10 minutes segments WTF and most the sketches are boring and lame.

Its like they grabbed the rejects, the worst members of the Australian comedy community shoved them all in 1 play.

Oh Dear!….Goddamn awful!….a little like some of the spelling in this thread!! Genevieve Morris should have her own show suitably developed with interesting characters like the Comedy Company and Fast Forward had in the 1980’s suitably moulded for today’s audience of course.

The skits are very weak and lack serious substance. Some of the themes in the skits should be developed further, as they have potential if exploited properly.

Comedy is a tough nut to crack and unfortunately Australian comedy is nowhere near as sharp as fresh and original British offerings. American comedy is just scripted-to-the-max rubbish. Ben, Please go home! Genevieve!….Develop it!!!

I’m beginning to suspect there’s an orchestrated drubbing of this show from opposition tv. The cast are all very talented. It’s just ridiculous to say they’re the worst of the worst. Ben’s monologues are spot-on social observations.

No H, I’ve never met Ben in my life, do not work for channel 9 or his agent. I just appreciate an intelligent person’s work and I’m sick to death of reality tv. I’m sick of cooking, fat people and talent shows.

Well Harry, i must agree with your sentiments on the 3 genres your talking about.
Please add to that ‘Beauty’ shows and ‘Home/Gardening’ and you’ve got a full house(no pun intended).
You must agree that Elton is an ‘insignificant’ when you compare his humour to Monty Python, Ricky Gervais, even Barry Humphries also his contemporaries like Stephen Fry Rowan Atkinson etc etc.
If you were compiling a list (another TV genre I detest) he wouldn’t get in the Top 100.

Harry, everyone’s sick of reality tv, cooking, fat people and talent shows. That’s why they are all so angry that Elton’s alternative was so bad. The dismal failure of this show means that we will get more of the same crap and less likelihood that something else local and funny will be tried. Elton is going to contribute to more trash being on the screen, not relieve it. That’s the worst part about the whole thing.

… there was the figure that Ben Elton got only 1,000 more viewers than the ABC’s QI—surely (yet another) indication of ratings having nothing to do with quality..? Perhaps the ABC should swap ‘Planet Earth’ for their new ‘Adam Hills at Gordon St…’ No-one has suggested yet that Ben may have offended any sponsors (do I watch Media Watch too much ….?). Switch off altogether & listen to ABC Radio.